Railcards and discrimination

vikingaero

OP,

Quite a few places charge different rates for disabled and the unemployed. So why should someone who works hard pay more...........?:p

thescouselander

On a slightly different note I have always wondered why older people get so many discounts while younger people get none.

For example people over 60 can often get cheap public transport while someone in their late 20s will have to pay full price. The chances are that the person in their late 20s will still be paying their student loan and struggling to buy their first home etc while being paid relatively little because they are just starting their career.

On the other hand, the person in their 60s has had a lifetime of work to pay off their mortgage and possibly save considerable amounts. Some may still be working and receiving a high salary because they have had time to work their way up.

Taking all that into account it should be the "pensioner" that pays the full amount and not the younger person and yet it is the other way round - it makes no sense.

vikingaero

There's still a massive band of pensioners who were effectively conned into believing that the State would provide for them if they contributed NI and pension money. We've all seen how these pensioners have been let down by successive Governments who have rarely increased pensions above RPI.

real1314

Anyone can get a disabled persons railcard and full disability benefits if they want it.






I have the shotgun that can prove it.


A few weeks ago through work I had to see a woman who gets full disability benefits, she had a broken back and had been confined to a wheelchair for 10 years. Her husband had to give up his job and they lived on benefits as they also had a child. He can't get a job now and they face the rest of their lives on benefits.

Still, on the bright side she gets a disabled rail card and some money. Well worth giving up walking for eh?

iolanthe07

Taking all that into account it should be the "pensioner" that pays the full amount and not the younger person and yet it is the other way round - it makes no sense.

As an over 60 still in work I have some sympathy with thescouselander. I feel quite embarrassed getting a free ride on the bus when I've never been so well off as I am now, and watching students and young mums with pushchairs having to pay. Not embarrassed enough to stop using my bus pass though!

bunking_off

I wouldn't for one moment question the need for disabled railcards. I do have some issue with railcards in general, though.

I travel a lot on business, typically in peak hour. It seems immensely unfair that while I pay full fare (or not far short of it for restricted business advance tickets), pensioners are able to travel using their railcard on saver tickets further discounted by the railcard. Even if savers aren't valid on the train, the railcard over-rides that restriction.

It means that on a train that's full, they'll typically be paying approx 1/3 of what I do....£40 single instead of £120. I don't begrudge discounted tickets for relevant groups, but I do think it wrong that they should apply on peak hour trains where some full payers don't get seats.

thescouselander

iolanthe07 wrote: »

Taking all that into account it should be the "pensioner" that pays the full amount and not the younger person and yet it is the other way round - it makes no sense.

As an over 60 still in work I have some sympathy with thescouselander. I feel quite embarrassed getting a free ride on the bus when I've never been so well off as I am now, and watching students and young mums with pushchairs having to pay. Not embarrassed enough to stop using my bus pass though!

Well, if its available you might as well use it, after all its not your fault you get a discount. I bet you get the winter fuel payment too!

iolanthe07

Yes, I do - and free prescriptions. Over 60's in decently paid work have never had it so good.

going2die_rich

sarich100 wrote: »

Not qualifying for any sort of railcard valid on routes in East Anglia (although unemployed, I'm either too old, not old enough and I'm able-bodied), got me feeling that I'm being discriminated against. I don't begrudge a disabled person their Disabled Person's Railcard, but I don't know why they should get cheaper railfares than me.

Does anyone know the basis for the Disabled Person's card and has it ever been subject to a legal challenge as being discriminatory?

I think there should be greater discrimination against your kind! i.e. able-bodied and unemployed... help you get back in to work and stop you having time to waste in such pointless matters

Mandog

I've just discovered that I'm entitled to a disabled person's railcard - because I wear hearing aids.

Yes, in my case it is ridiculous - moderate hearing loss doesn't stop me driving, walking or cycling, or significantly limit job opportunities. Sarich100, I'll think of you and your highly unpleasant post every time I use my railcard, and gloat.

The real unfairness is the imbalance - people with mobility difficulties, for example, don't seem to qualify unless they're on benefits. So there are probably people with a genuine need for discounted travel who don't get it.